Career Positions

Attorney Advisor

Attorney‑Advisor (International)
Location: Washington, D.C. (in‑person)
Grade: GS‑12/13/14 (based on experience)

To apply, send your resume and a cover letter to [email protected] with the subject line “Re: (the Team Position you are interested in), example: “Re: Energy and Minerals Attorney Position”

The Attorney‑Advisor (International) serves within the Office of the General Counsel, Commercial Law Development Program (CLDP), providing legal, advisory, and technical assistance to improve commercial legal environments in developing countries. Assigned to a regional or subject‑matter team, the Attorney‑Advisor works at the intersection of law, commerce, diplomacy, and international development in more than 85 countries to advance U.S. business and strategic interests.

Position Overview
The Attorney‑Advisor supports CLDP’s mission by helping partner governments strengthen legal, regulatory, and institutional frameworks that promote sustainable business environments. The role includes designing and implementing technical assistance programs, advising foreign counterparts, and coordinating closely with U.S. interagency partners. Both recent law graduates and experienced attorneys may apply.

Key Responsibilities

• Legal and Advisory Services: Conduct legal analysis; prepare written assessments, reports, and recommendations; advise foreign government officials and institutions on commercial law reforms.

• Technical Assistance Delivery: Plan, manage, and implement international programs—including workshops, consultations, and legal reform initiatives—often in collaboration with foreign stakeholders, private sector representatives, bar associations, academia, and government ministries.

• Diplomacy & Interagency Coordination: Engage with U.S. agencies, foreign governments, and international organizations; foster collaboration and cultivate productive working relationships; navigate cross‑cultural environments with professionalism and sensitivity.

• Program Management: Serve as a program manager responsible for shaping, executing, and evaluating technical assistance activities; exercise flexibility, creativity, and problem‑solving when adapting programming to shifting political contexts.

• International Travel: Travel internationally approximately 25% of the year (6–8 trips annually) to deliver technical assistance and host delegations.

• Office & Administrative Support: Contribute to office operations and ensure effective administrative management. Approximately 25–30% of time will include logistics, planning, documentation, and coordination duties.

Minimum Qualifications

• U.S. citizenship

• Active bar membership in good standing in a U.S. state, territory, or the District of Columbia

• Ability to work onsite in Washington, D.C., five days a week

• Ability to obtain and maintain a Secret security clearance

• Professional experience requirements aligned with GS level: one year for GS‑12, three years for GS‑13, and five years for GS‑14

• Demonstrated interest or experience in regions or subject matter areas where CLDP provides assistance

• Capacity to engage effectively with foreign stakeholders and navigate complex bureaucratic and institutional environments

• Fluency or working proficiency in regionally relevant languages strongly preferred

Additional Preferred Attributes

• Cross- cultural awareness, diplomatic acumen, adaptability, and strong communication skills

• Understanding of U.S. government operations and foreign government structures

• Ability to represent U.S. interests while supporting partner‑country development goals

Open Attorney Positions on CLDP Teams

Cyber and Telecommunications Team

Energy & Minerals Team

Eurasia Team

Europe Team

Latin America Team

International Program Specialist: 

International Program Specialist

Location: Washington D.C. 

Grade: GS-09 with promotion potential to GS-12

To apply, send your resume and a cover letter to [email protected] with the subject line “Re: (the Team Position you are interested in), example: “Re: Energy and Minerals International Program Specialist Position”

Position Overview: 

This position is in the Office of the Secretary, Office of the General Counsel, Commercial Law Development Program (CLDP). CLDP's mission is to provide targeted technical support to emerging markets to improve their policies, legal and regulatory conditions for doing business in their countries, thereby creating better economic opportunities for local entrepreneurs and American companies doing business overseas.

The incumbent will serve as a CLDP International Program Specialist (IPS), assigned to a specific country or region with required foreign language fluency, assist CLDP Attorneys and/or Program Managers with designing and preparing strategic engagements, and travel overseas to implement training sessions and workshops.

Key Responsibilities: 

The incumbent will perform duties such as: 

• Program Management: Assists with organizing and implementing strategic engagements, including communicating with international participants, recruiting speakers, arranges international travel and securing the logistical support needed to execute work plans, and analyzes impact of programs with monitoring and evaluation (M&E) tools and reports describing the office’s activities and achievements. 

• Diplomacy: Communicates and establishes rapport and relationships with organizations, agencies, public officials and business leaders. Maintains relationships with foreign governments, USG officials and other assistance providers through regular correspondence and personal meetings.

• Financial: Tracks budget expenditures based on CLDP interagency agreements. Ensures projects remain within budget by developing and maintaining adequate resource tracking systems. Provides regular reports on the financial status of the project.

• Additional: Possesses knowledge of the mission of CLDP and other government offices involved in CLDP's legal technical assistance events. 

• Travels internationally to developing countries to implement programs, workshops, assessments, etc., approximately 25%.

• Adheres to federal procurement regulations.

Qualifications: 

• Applicants must posses a college undergraduate degree.
• Applicants must possess one or more years of specialized experience, including volunteer work done through national service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community, student, social.
• Ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, with peers and high-level U.S. and foreign officials.
• Ability to manage program budgets, complex logistics, and complete procurement requests.
• Highly organized and able to manage competing priorities and multi-tasking.

• Language fluency in a language relevant to CLDP Teams (Includes languages used in the following regions; Latin America, North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, South and Central Asia, Eastern Europe). 

• This job is available to applicants with active non-competitive eligibility (NCE) status. NCE is a special federal hiring status applicable for certain federal jobs. (Peace Corps, AmeriCorps, Boren, Fulbright) For more information on NCE, visit www.peacecorps.gov/nce.

• Must be able to obtain Secret clearance.

• U.S. Citizen

Open International Program Specialist Positions: 

Energy & Minerals Team

Internships:

If you are looking for a legal internship that will allow you to work in an international legal environment and handle a variety of legal issues, then CLDP may be just the place for you. CLDP welcomes legal interns to work alongside our international teams to do research and analysis and write legal reports that identify the current opportunities for CLDP to effect international reforms and document the activities of the CLDP teams around the globe.

Our legal interns work with the respective regional teams that currently focus on improving commercial legal environments worldwide. In order to be an intern with CLDP, you must be a U.S. citizen, in or about to begin your second or third year of law school, and remain enrolled in school through the duration of your internship. If you are interested in working with CLDP in this capacity, please send a resume via e-mail with a cover letter outlining your interests to [email protected]. Please be sure to write your name and the term (summer, fall, or spring) you are interested in applying for in the subject line.

For information about the current makeup and expertise of the present CLDP staff, please visit our staff bios page.